PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES:..improved to 2-0 on their road trip after doubling up the Royals 6-3 last night…Have won back-to-back road games for the first time since 5/30-31 at San Francisco…Will look to win three straight away from PNC Park for the first time since a five-game road winning streak from 4/17-29…Have not been charged with an error in the last five games, which is the fourth-longest active streak in MLB behind the Braves (14 games), Rays (seven games) and Rangers (six games)…Have gone 19-19 in their last 38 games since losing each of their first five games following the All-Star break.
THE HOT CORNER: Ke’Bryan Hayes has recorded 20 RBI this month, which are the most by a Pirates third baseman since Pedro Alvarez had 24 RBI in June of 2013…Hayes’ 20 RBI this month are tied for the most in MLB among third basemen with Houston’s Alex Bregman…Hayes also ranks first in MLB among third basemen this month in slugging (.588), second in total bases (57) and home runs (six), third in bating (.320) and fifth in OBP (.368).
CHECKING THE BROOM CLOSET: The Pirates will go for their sixth sweep of the season tonight and their first since June 27-29 against the Padres at PNC Park…Pittsburgh has swept two series on the road this season, doing so from April 3-5 at Boston and from April 17-19 at Colorado…Pittsburgh’s last sweep against Kansas City came at PNC Park from September 17-19, 2018, at PNC Park.
COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH: Liover Peguero highlighted Pittsburgh’s four-run ninth inning Tuesday with a three-run home run that extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 5-1…Peguero is hitting .417 (10-for-24) with runners in scoring position since his season debut on July 17, which ranks eighth in the National League among players with at least 25 plate appearances.
ABOUT TONIGHT’S STARTER: Andre Jackson will make his third start and sixth appearance with the Pirates since being promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis on August 4…Jackson tossed a career-high 6.0 innings in relief of Rob Zastryny, who opened Thursday’s game against the Cubs at PNC Park…Jackson made the first start of his big league career on August 13 in game two of a doubleheader against the Reds, allowing three runs in 3.2 innings in a no-decision.
ON THE MEND: Carmen Mlodzinski threw a total of 14 pitches (nine strikes) while allowing one run in 1.0 inning of relief in his first rehab appearance last night with Triple-A Indianapolis…Mlodzinski has been on the 15-day injured list since August 12 with right elbow soreness.
OFF TO ST. LOUIS: The Pirates will depart for St. Louis following tonight’s game for a three-game series against the Cardinals beginning Friday night…The Pirates are 7-3 this season against the Cardinals, giving the Bucs their first winning season against the RedBirds since going 10-9 in 2013.
PIRATES GOLD: Earlier today Pittsburgh’s Gold team entry in the Dominican Summer League played in game one in the best-of-three series in the championship round of the playoffs against the DSL Dodgers Bautista team…The Gold team will look to become Pittsburgh’s first team in the Dominican Summer League to win a championship since 2003.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Andrew McCutchen has knocked in nine runs in his last 10 games and comes into today two shy of tying Arky Vaughan for the eighth-most (767) in Pirates history…The 36-year-old McCutchen ranks eighth among all active players with 1042 RBI (Miguel Cabrera is first with 1871).
NO WHEN TO HOLDERMAN: Colin Holderman has recorded a 1.08 ERA (16.2ip/2er) in his last 17 appearances dating back to July 16…That’s the fourth-lowest ERA among all National League relievers (minimum 16.0ip) behind Ryan Brasier (0.50), Mark Leiter Jr. (0.95) and Pierce Johnson (1.04).
GOING THE EXTRA MILE: Bryan Reynolds has 15 extra base hits this month, which are the sixth-most in the National League behind Mookie Betts (19), Bryce Harper (19), Freddie Freeman (18), Marcell Ozuna (17) and Trea Turner (17)…The most extra base hits Reynolds has recorded in a month in his career is 17 in August of 2019.
STARTING PITCHER – 41 – RHP ANDRE JACKSON
ANDRE JACKSON: The 27-year-old righthander will make his sixth appearance (third start) with the Pirates after being promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis on 8/4…He was acquired by the Pirates from the Los Angeles Dodgers on 6/25 for cash considerations.
VS. KANSAS CITY: Has never faced the Royals in his career
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
BLOWN LEADS: The Royals blew a 1-0 lead in the 8th inning last night to mark their 43rd blown lead loss of the season, matching the White Sox for the most in the Majors…their 43 blown lead losses are 7 more than their total from all of last season and are 10 shy of the franchise record of 53, set during their 103-loss 2019 season. Last night was their 6th loss this year when leading after the 7th inning and 1st since Aug. 17 vs. Seattle.
REHABBING ROYALS: Brad Keller was charged with 2 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk with 4 strikeouts in 1.2 innings last night with Double-A Northwest Arkansas…it was his 6th appearance—4th at Double-A—on his current rehab assignment as he works his way back from a right shoulder impingement that has sidelined him since mid May. Nick Pratto is beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha tonight after being returned—but not reinstated—from a rehab assignment last Saturday…he was placed on the IL on July 28 with a groin strain.
SERIES SPEAKING: Last night’s defeat clinched Kansas City’s eighth consecutive winless series, a stretch that includes seven series losses and one split…they haven’t won a series since sweeping the Twins and Mets in back-to-back sets from July 28-Aug. 3, and are a Major League-worst 6-18 (.250) in 24 games since. The Royals are seeking a win tonight to avoid what would be their 12th time being swept this season, including a 3-game sweep last weekend in Seattle…they haven’t been swept in back-to-back series since June 5-14, when they were swept in three straight sets at Miami and Baltimore and vs. Cincinnati. The Royals hope to avoid being swept by the Pirates for just the third time, following June 8-10, 2012 and Sept. 17-19, 2018, both in Pittsburgh…last night’s loss clinched the Royals first series loss to the Pirates at Kauffman Stadium, falling to 13-5 vs. them here after winning five of the previous six sets with one split. These teams will meet again from Sept. 13-15, 2024 in Pittsburgh as part of next year’s penultimate trip.
INTERLEAGUE INTRIGUE: Tonight marks the Royals 46th and final Interleague game of the season, setting a club record in this first year of a balanced schedule…the Royals are 16-29 vs. National League teams this season and have lost 4 straight games after winning 8 of their previous 11, including 6 straight from July 1-Aug. 4. Ê After tonight, all 27 of the Royals remaining games are vs. AL opponents, including 12 vs. the AL Central.
SCORING CHANGE: The league last night announced a scoring change to the Royals game in Oakland on Aug. 22…in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Carlos Pérez reached on what was originally ruled an error on third baseman Maikel Garcia…this has been changed to a base hit and as a result, Perez’s run scored in that inning is now earned, charging a 5th earned run to Angel Zerpa’s line and raising his season ERA to 7.79 (15 ER in 17.1 IP).
ON DECK: The Royals will enjoy an off day tomorrow to end the month of August, after which they will continue this 9-game, 10-day homestand with a 3-game series vs. the Red Sox this weekend to begin the month of September…starting next week, the Royals will welcome the White Sox to town for a 3-game set, including a 1:10 p.m. CT start on Monday (Memorial Day) and a pair of 6:40 p.m. CT starts next Tuesday and Wednesday. his is the third-to-last homestand of the season, including a 6-game stay from Sept. 15-20 vs. Houston and Cleveland and a 3-game series vs. the Yankees to end the regular season from Sept. 29-Oct. 1…including tonight, there are only 16 home games remaining on the Royals 2023 schedule.
RING-’EM-UP RAGANS: With 7.0 scoreless innings last night, Cole Ragans put the finishing touches on his astounding month of August, in which he leads the Majors with a 1.72 ERA (7 ER in 36.2 IP) and 53 strikeouts and ranks 1st in the American League in both K/9 (13.0) and K% (36.6%), trailing only Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta (13.8 K/9, 40.0%) among Major League pitchers…half of his 6 starts in August were scoreless and last night’s performance extended his scoreless streak to a career-high 15.0 innings over 2-plus starts, which is tied with reliever Raisel Iglesias for the 2nd-longest active streak in the Majors behind reliever Bryan Abreu (16.2 IP). Ragans’ 53 strikeouts in 36.2 innings this month are the 2nd most for any month in franchise history, trailing Dennis Leonard, who had 55 strikeouts in 59.1 innings in June 1977, the year he set the club’s single-season strikeout record (244)…Ragans’ 13.0 K/9 and 36.6 K% are the highest rates by a pitcher (min. 5 starts) in any calendar month in franchise history, and his 1.72 ERA is the best mark by a Royal in August since Bret Saberhagen had a 1.58 ERA (10 ER in 57.0 IP) in August 1989, the year he won his second Cy Young Award. Ragans is hoping to become the first Royal to be named American League Pitcher of the Month since Zack Greinke in April 2009, the year he won the Cy Young Award…Ragans would be only the third Royals left-handed pitcher to earn league monthly honors, and would follow Charlie Leibrandt, who won the award in April and September 1985, and Larry Gura, who was honored in July 1980 and September 1981. By measure of fWAR, Ragans (1.9) has been the best pitcher in the Majors since the All-Star break.
SALVY SPLASHES: Despite going just 6-for-40 with 3 RBI since the start of the last trip, and being homerless in his last 13 games, Royals Captain Salvador Perez is approaching several notable milestones…sitting on 19 home runs this year, his next will make 2023 his seventh season with at least 20 home runs, which will break a tie with Mike Sweeney for 2nd most in Royals history, trailing only Hall of Famer George Brett, who had eight…Salvy is also just 11 hits shy of matching Sweeney for 7th place on the Royals all-time hits list at 1,398. Perez, who is the Royals designated hitter tonight, is 25.0 innings caught shy of 10,000.0 for his career. Salvy is Kansas City’s all-time leader in Interleague play in hits (214), HR (38) and RBI (120)…he’s hit safely in 12 of his 15 career games vs. the Pirates, in which he’s batting .333 (20-for-60) with 3 HR and 9 RBI.
THE RUNNING ROYALS: In 43 games since the All-Star break, the Royals lead the Majors with 54 stolen bases, which are 6 more than the Nationals (48), who rank 2nd, and 15 more than the Mariners (39) for the American League lead…after stealing only 40 bags in 56 games through the end of May, the Royals rank 2nd in the Majors and lead the American League with 90 steals in 78 games since June 1…for the season, they rank 4th in the Majors with 130 stolen bases, trailing only Cincinnati (153), Tampa Bay (138) and Arizona (134). Nine different Royals players have at least 5 steals this year, which trails only the Reds, who have 10 players with at least 5 steals…Kansas City’s leading base stealer is Bobby Witt Jr., who ranks tied for 4th in the Majors with 38 steals behind Ronald Acuña Jr. (61), Esteury Ruiz (51) and Corbin Carroll (40)
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP ANGEL ZERPA (1-2, 7.79)
ANGEL ZERPA (AHN-hel SAIR-pah) is making his 6th career start (12th appearance) tonight vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates, who he’s facing for the first time in his career…he was signed by Kansas City as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2016.
JACK OF ALL TRADES: Despite having only appeared in 7 games this season, Zerpa has already filled several key roles for the Royals, including serving as a traditional starting pitcher, bulk pitcher, opener and reliever…in his most recent outing on Saturday in Seattle, he entered to pitch the 6th inning and yielded a leadoff home run to Cal Raleigh, before retiring his next three batters in order…his last start came on Aug. 22 at the Oakland Coliseum, where he covered the first 3.0 innings as an opener for Zack Greinke, who made his return from the Injured List as the bulk pitcher…in that outing, Zerpa allowed a career-high-tying 5 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk, suffering his 2nd loss of the season…that inflated his career ERA as a starter to 3.43 (8 ER in 21.0 IP), however in his first 4 career starts prior to Aug. 22, he pitched to a 1.50 ERA (3 ER in 18.0 IP). He owns a 4.59 ERA (17 ER in 33.1 IP) through his first 11 career Major League appearances…despite this, he’s allowed 16 runs (15 ER) in his last 6 outings over 15.1 innings (8.80 ERA) after holding opponents to just 5 runs (2 ER) over 18.0 innings (1.00 ERA) spanning his first 5 career appearances (3 starts).
2023 RECAP: Angel opened this season on the 60-day Injured List and missed 91 games with left shoulder tendinopathy…he was sent on a rehab assignment to Double-A Northwest Arkansas on June 15, where he pitched in 3 games and recorded a 1.13 ERA (1 ER in 8.0 IP)…his rehab was then transferred to Triple-A Omaha and he made 4 appearances for the Storm Chasers, going 0-1 with a 3.95 ERA (6 ER in 13.2 IP). After being returned from his rehab assignment on July 14, he was reinstated from the 60-day Injured List and optioned to Omaha, where he went 0-1 with a 5.54 ERA (8 ER in 13.0 IP) and 8 strikeouts in 3 starts for the Storm Chasers. Angel was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Aug. 1, marking his first stint with the Royals this season…his 2.0-inning relief appearance on Aug. 2 against the Mets marked his first Major League action since July 26, 2022.
AT HOME: Zerpa has made 6 career appearances (3 starts) at Kauffman Stadium since his 2021 debut and has gone 2-2 with a 2.57 ERA (6 ER in 21.0 IP) at his home ballpark…of those 6 earned runs allowed, 4 came in his 4.0-inning appearance on Aug. 11 vs. the Cardinals, as he’s pitched to a 1.06 ERA (2 ER in 17.0 IP) over his other 5 games…these numbers are in start contrast to his 7.30 ERA (10 ER in 12.1 IP) in 5 road career appearances.
